


Furi-oso

by fencingfox



Series: A Little More Culture [2]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Gen, Language, Self-Doubt, Universal Translator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 11:22:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20599943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fencingfox/pseuds/fencingfox
Summary: Just a casual few hours off onVoyager.She changes course for the holodeck, not even giving him the option to suggest changing after Alpha shift. Tom hurries to catch up. She's sure he'd been hoping to see her in her blue floral swimsuit again, but if he says it, she'll deck him.





	Furi-oso

**Author's Note:**

> oso (bear)
> 
> There's a little bit of fluff for a lot of pairings here, mostly P/T though.

* * *

"So, what do you think of coming to the resort with me?" Tom catches up to B'Elanna's side. 

"¿Cuando?" _(When?)_ The chip in his arm effortlessly translates the Spanish to the clipped consonants of Standard for Lieutenant Tom Paris while the chip in Crewman Chell's arm translates to the rolling vowels of Bolian as he passes within earshot. 

"Whenever you want to." Tom watches her mull it over. The chip translates the Standard to Bolian for Crewman Chell as well. 

"Ahora soy libre." _(I'm free now.)_

"Really?" He can't help himself from sounding like an excited schoolboy. She looks over at him and she's happy the look produces the desired effect of making him worried she'll call the whole thing off. She looks forward, pleased. 

"Sí." She changes course for the holodeck, not even giving him the option to suggest changing after Alpha shift. Tom hurries to catch up. She's sure he'd been hoping to see her in her blue floral swimsuit again, but if he says it, she'll deck him. Crewman Chell moves out of earshot. When they reach the holodeck, the program is already running. Tom presses the door and steps aside with a gesture. 

"After you." She glares at him, but steps inside anyway. Her subdermal chip warms slightly in her bicep as she comes into earshot of the many voices. B'Elanna briefly wonders how many languages are within the holodeck alone. She quickly spots Neelix serving drinks, Harry sitting close to Kes to chat happily, and Chakotay in conversation with Ayala. She steers them to Neelix first. 

"Innumorl?" _(Drinks?)_ B'Elanna nods. 

"¿Puedo tomar jugo?" _(Can I have juice?)_

"Bih" _(Yes.)_ Neelix began rummaging around behind the counter. B'Elanna's grateful that the holodeck keeps his experimental foods to a minimal as he produces a tall glass of pineapple juice. She sips at it as Tom orders his drink. 

"Soda." The translator in Neelix's arm hesitates in its translation. Nothing on his homeworld resembles this 'soda'. Tom points to the bubbly drink behind him since it isn't the first time Neelix failed to understand his request. He'll have to associate the odd word with that bubbly drink from now on. B'Elanna watches with interest. 

"¿Problemas de traductor?" _(Problems with the translator?)_

"Dumaal." _(Some.)_ "Ahera, neg su blooparhgamorl." _(Usually it only fails with foodstuffs.)_ B'Elanna thinks to herself how that must account for his poor taste. 

"Thank you," Tom says. The translator in Neelix's arm responds with the sensation of a soft purr as is the way his language expresses thank you. Neelix smiles back. That soft purr is what keeps him going as Chief Morale Officer. B'Elanna moves from her perch on the stool and drifts past Chakotay and Ayala. Ayala is telling a joke judging from Chakotay's rapt attention and seat on the edge of his chair. She stops the two of them to listen in. 

"Американец, француз и русский одни на необитаемом острове. Они ловят рыбу для еды и внезапно ловят Золотую Рыбку, которая обещает исполнить два желания для каждого в обмен на свою свободу:" _(An American, a Frenchman and a Russian are alone on an uninhabited island. They catch fish for food and suddenly catch a Golden Fish, who promises to fulfill two wishes for each in trade for her own freedom:)_ B'Elanna sits down on an empty chair. She likes this one. Tom sits close to her. She can feel his warmth and leans a little toward him. His arm brushes her back and she realizes where they are and who he is. She hops a little away. 

"Sorry." 

"Esta bien," _(It's alright,)_ she mumbles. Ayala and Chakotay look at her knowingly. She shoots a scathing look at them until Ayala continues. 

"Американец:" He looks pointedly at Tom. "«Миллион долларов и вернуться домой!»" _(The American: "A million dollars and to go back home!")_ His eyes wander between the three of them. "Француз: «Три прекрасных женщины и вернуться домой!»" _(The Frenchman: "Three beautiful women and to go back home!")_ He sits a little straighter. "Русский:—" _(The Russian:—)_

"'Tsk, y nos estábamos llevando muy bien. ¡Tres cajas de vodka y los dos muchachos de regreso!'" _("Tsk, and we were getting along so well. Three crates of vodka and the two fellas back!")_ B'Elanna delivers the punchline for him. Ayala glares, but Tom and Chakotay are laughing uncontrollably. Soon Ayala joins in. 

"Esa ge 'na hño!" _(That's a good one!)_ Chakotay says once he recovers. He has tears in his eyes. "¿Ma'na?" _(Another?)_

"Yo tengo una." _(I have one.)_ They all look expectantly at her. She feels a little pressured. It's more of a pun than a joke really. "¿Cómo se llama un oso enfadado?" _(What do you call an angry bear?)_ She pauses to let them answer. 

"Что?" _(What?)_ Ayala asks. 

"¡Furioso!" _(Furious!)_ She bursts into laughter...and she's the only laughing. _Tough crowd._ She stops laughing so she can explain. The translator probably doesn't do a good job of making her words sound different in their languages. She touches the closest person's arm—Tom's—where his subdermal chip is so he can hear her in Spanish. 

"Oso," she removes the pressure of her hand and continues, "es oso en español." _(is bear in Spanish.)_ She presses her hand to his arm again, "furioso," she removes her hand entirely, "está furioso, pero también—" _(is furious, but it's also—)_. 

"A furry bear!" He breaks into a grin and laughs. Chakotay and Ayala join after, albeit not as fully as they had for Ayala's joke. She stands up, embarrassed. That joke can pull her out of all sorts of angry holes, but to have them hardly get it grates on her nerves. Tom stands up after her and puts a hand on her arm where her own chip is but not using enough pressure to disable it as it's designed to. 

"Where are you going?" 

"Para ver a Harry." _(To see Harry.)_ He nods. 

"I'll come with." She doesn't want him to, but he's already following her to the happy pair. "Sorry we didn't get your joke. It's funny." 

"No es nada, sólo me hace saltar de los estados de ánimo enfadados más rápido." _(It's nothing, just makes me jump out of angry moods faster.)_

"You'll have to tell me the whole thing in Spanish so I can use it next time then." She can hear him smirking and besides herself, she smiles. She'd like that. The translators make everyone speak fluent Spanish. She'd like to hear Tom's clumsy Spanish. 

"Voy a." _(I will.)_ They sit down together on another long beach bed. B'Elanna notes with a mix of annoyance and butterflies that there's a perfectly good bench for Tom to sit on across from her. Their arms are touching. If she leaned over a little, she'd be able to hear Tom's native tongue. She doesn't, but the notion is tempting however sweet he sounds in Spanish. 

"Hāi, dàjiā hǎo." _(Hi guys.)_ Harry greets them happily. 

"What were you talking about?" Tom asks. 

"Jiā." _(Home.)_ B'Elanna is glad they hadn't interrupted anything too personal between the two of them. 

"Jen var?" _(How are both of you?)_

"I'm good." Tom looks expectantly at B'Elanna. 

"Yo también." _(Me too.)_ She looks around them, wondering what to say next. She notes that Ayala's left to talk with the Delaney sisters and Captain Janeway has finally taken advantage of her off time, not that the Captain is ever really off. She's sitting in Ayala's spot, though the long chairs are closer; their knees must almost be touching. _Just when are they going to stop dancing around each other?_

"B'Elanna?" Tom nudges her. She turns back to the group. "Harry was just asking how engineering went today without him." She remembers how Harry had been helping her a few hours a day while he was on Beta shift. She'd told him he didn't need to, but he said he had fun working with her. 

"Bien, bien." _(Fine, fine.)_ She doesn't want to sit so close to Tom right now. She scoots aside, then decides she'd just rather leave. "En realidad, necesito revisar algunas pruebas en Ingeniería." _(Actually, I need to check on some tests in Engineering.)_ She's sure her excuse will keep Tom from following her as she gets up to leave. Harry just might, but hopefully the presence of Kes and Tom will keep him here. She manages to leave the holodeck without anyone following her and carts herself to her quarters, resolved to never sit next to Tom again. She doesn't believe herself as soon as she steps inside and actually begins to miss his warmth. B'Elanna tells herself that it's just because her translator isn't as warm anymore. She sits on her bed just as her door chimes. 

"Venga," _(Come,)_ she says formally even though she's sure it's Tom or Harry on the other side. To her surprise, she sees Kes. 

"Va thar?" _(Are you okay?)_ She sits down next to B'Elanna as she asks. The door closes behind her and B'Elanna's subdermal chip warms slightly. 

"Sí...no. No sé." _(Yes...no. I don't know.)_

"Va hinual ausa tel'quiet." _(You can talk with me.)_ B'Elanna sighs when Kes puts her hand on her own. 

"No parece importar dónde estoy. No pertenezco." _(It doesn't seem to matter where I am. I don't belong.)_

"Jen kar va thro?" _(How do you know?)_

"Nadie entenredó mi broma. La mayoría de la gente corre asustada de mí. Sólo soy jefe por Chakotay." _(No one got my joke. Most people run scared from me. I'm only chief because of Chakotay.)_ B'Elanna lists everything while holding her fingers in front of them to count. For everything on her list, she lifts a finger. Although, she doesn't entirely believe the last one. She kind of wants someone to back her who didn't feel obligated to. 

"Siilen n'nha omah." _(That isn't important.)_ "Va omah. Va quor." _(You are important. You belong.)_ She squeezes her hand. "Wuthen iltem." _(Ask anyone.)_ Then Kes stands up and leaves. "Va quor." She doesn't look up when Kes leaves so B'Elanna hadn't noticed Tom come in when Kes left. 

"Your comm said you were in your quarters." She looks up, angry and betrayed, but loosens her hold on them when she sees genuine concern. 

"Sólo necesitaba escaparme." _(I just needed to get away.)_ He sits on her bed where Kes had been. She looks down again. 

"Well, you left without telling me the joke in Spanish." He kneels to pull off his boots and twists to face her with one leg folded under him and another dangling over the edge. She manages a chuckle. 

"Bien." _(Fine.)_ She kicks off her boots, making them land nearly in her bathroom, and mirrors him. She places her hand on his left arm and presses down so that he'll hear her Spanish. 

"¿Cómo se llama un oso enfadado?" She speaks slowly, careful to exagerate the stresses. He repeats after her even slower, nodding his head as if to an imaginary beat. 

"¿Cómo se llama un oso enfadado?" His pronunciation is clumsy but at least she can tell he's asking a question. 

"Otra vez." The translator doesn't translate for Tom, but he seems to understand her meaning and repeats the question for her. 

"¿Cómo se llama un oso enfadado?" She nods. 

"Bien. Ahora: Furioso." 

"Furioso." She smiles at him just as she asks herself if sitting across from him counts as sitting next to him.

**Author's Note:**

> B'Elanna: Spanish  
Neelix: Made-up Talaxian  
Ayala: Russian  
Chakotay: Querétaro Otomi  
Harry: Mandarin (simplified)  
Kes: Elfish (D&D)
> 
> I know Ayala doesn't have much of any accent in the show (certainly not as bad as Chekov's in the original series), but I don't care. I'm sticking with it. My own family don't have accents as bad as he did.
> 
> On Chakotay's language of choice. Yes, I could have gone with Standard or English but I chose not to for two reasons: to give the story more voices and because part of me thinks that as he returned to his traditions, he might have felt an urge to return to his language too. I cannot speak anything other than English, Russian, and a smattering of Spanish which I've recently been trying to learn again so I had to rely on translation aids.
> 
> I welcome all kinds of comments on any story. I'll typically even respond too.


End file.
